Gerda Boyesen

Gerda Boyesen (born May 18, 1922 in Bergen, Norway ; † December 29, 2005 in London ) was the founder of biodynamic psychology . The biodynamics as Hakomi , bioenergetics , biosynthesis a sense of body psychotherapy .

Life

Gerda Boyesen was born in Bergen in 1922. Her first marriage was to Carl Boyesen. In 1947 she read a book by Wilhelm Reich that made a great impression on her. Shortly afterwards she began therapy with Ola Raknes , a therapist trained in vegetotherapy after Reich, later studying psychology in Oslo and training as a physiotherapist with subsequent work with Aadel Bülow-Hansen . Through her own therapy, Boyesen learned the connection between suppressed emotions and muscle tension. In her book "On the body heal your soul" is well-founded and partly very described himself as by studying their own therapy experience and their own practice theoretical and methodological approaches of Wilhelm Reich, Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud joined together and this to further developed her own therapy method.

Gerda Boyesen is the founder of " Biodynamic Psychology and Psychotherapy ", as she called her therapy direction. In 1968 she went to London and opened a practice there and later an international teaching and training institute as the first woman in Europe.

Her books have been translated into different languages. She trained psychotherapists for decades and continued to develop her concepts and methods throughout her life. She gave birth to three children (Mona Lisa, Ebba and Paul), all of whom are also linked to biodynamics and psychotherapy.

plant

Gerda Boyesen developed, among other things, the theory that the reduction of mental stress is also related to the digestive system . She developed a technique of massage through which stagnant circuits, i.e. H. the expression of repressed feelings that can be brought back into motion. This can be seen in the fact that the intestinal noises are similar to those generated during the digestion of food, expressions of what she calls psychoperistalsis . This unconscious process of "digesting" psychological problems often induces conscious insights into one's own situation and makes it easier to cope with the problem. Gerda Boyesen was often referred to by her colleagues as the “lady with the stethoscope” because of her method, which she placed on the stomach of her clients to better perceive the intestinal noises. She differentiated a variety of peristalsis noises and used them diagnostically to draw conclusions about the unconscious processes of the client. For Gerda Boyesen it was a good sign if at the end of a client session the “psychoperistalsis” was active in a certain way. This means that something is breaking up and can be reorganized.

In addition to this method of gentle massage, she also worked with Wilhelm Reich's vegetotherapy and conversational therapy borrowings from Freud, CG Jung and others. In doing so, the client should be supported in exploring their own emotional experience (ability to introspect), following their physical and emotional impulses and expressing them. This would bring unconscious conflicts to light, make them accessible to the conscious mind, and could then be further processed psychotherapeutically and finally resolved.

Another element is deep draining , a special type of massage in which “deeper layers” are touched in order to influence fixed physical and mental postures. Neurotic patterns should be detected, relaxed and finally resolved.

Besides Jay Stattmann (Unitive Body Psychotherapy), Alexander Lowen ( Bioenergetics ), David Boadella (Biosynthesis), Ron Kurz (Hakomi), Gerda Boyesen is one of the founders of modern body psychotherapy; she is an honorary member of the European Association for Body Psychotherapy (EABP) and honorary president of the Society for Biodynamic Psychology (GBP e.V.), the professional association of biodynamic therapists in Germany. The training as a biodynamic body psychotherapist by the European School for Biodynamics and Erogenetics (ESBPE) in Lübeck is recognized by the EABP as psychotherapy training. The form of biodynamic psychotherapy (biopsychotherapy) practiced and taught by Gerda Boyesen in the last decade of her life is continued today by Siegfried Bach as head of the Institute for Biodynamics.

criticism

Like all body psychotherapeutic schools, biodynamics is not recognized as a scientifically based therapy method according to the psychotherapy guidelines of the health insurance companies. Nonetheless, scientific psychotherapy research is advancing and has often subsequently confirmed various theories and concepts.

Biodynamic psychotherapy is practiced by psychologists, doctors and non-medical practitioners outside of regular health insurance coverage. H. on a private basis, i.e. with self-payers. Sometimes body therapy techniques are offered in psychotherapeutic and psychosomatic clinics or health clinics. Regardless of the scientific recognition, body therapeutic and especially the gentle biodynamic techniques are very popular among patients.

Biodynamics is not recognized as a scientific method by evidence-based medicine. For example, an assessment by the AOK says: “Scientifically, the notions of“ emotional residues ”that are given off via the intestines have no basis whatsoever. There are also no scientific studies that could prove the effectiveness of the therapy. (...) Fear and stress certainly have an impact on the vegetative nervous system of the intestine and are manifested in altered digestive activity. But the idea that the intestinal noises are an expression of the patient's psychological situation is incomprehensible. "

In a multi-center study in 2006 it was possible to provide evidence that body psychotherapy, including biodynamics, can lead to an improvement in symptoms in certain disorders such as anxiety, depression, interpersonal problems and psychologically-related physical complaints.

Publications

• Gerda Boyesen, Mona Lisa Boyesen: Biodynamic Theory and Practice . In: Hilarion G. Petzold (Ed.): The new body therapies . Junfermann, Paderborn 1977, ISBN 3-87387-162-9 , pp. 140-157.
• Gerda Boyesen, Mona Lisa Boyesen: Biodynamics of Life: The Gerda Boyesen Method - Basis of Biodynamic Psychology . Synthesis, Essen 1987, ISBN 3-922026-16-8 , p. 183.
• Gerda Boyesen: Healing the soul through the body: Biodynamic psychology and psychotherapy . 7th edition. Kösel, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-466-34167-1 .
• Gerda Boyesen, Claudia Leudesdorff, Christoph Santner: On the pleasure of healing . Kösel, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-466-34323-2 .
• Gerda Boyesen, Peter Bergholz: Your stomach is smarter than you . Miko-Edition, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-935436-13-0 .

literature

• Siegfried Bach: Narcissism in the light of biodynamics . In: Manfred Thielen (Ed.): Narcissism: body psychotherapy between energy and relationship . Leutner, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-934391-13-3 , pp. 169-200.

Web links

• Literature by and about Gerda Boyesen in the catalog of the German National Library
• On biodynamics and biography